U.S. federal worker unions negotiate for flexibility on furloughs

WASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - Labor unions are bargainingwith federal government agencies in an attempt to soften thefinancial blow on federal employees as $85 billion in spendingcuts kick in.

Some agencies, such as Customs and Border Protection, theInternal Revenue Service and the Environmental Protection Agencyhave notified workers they may have to take several unpaid daysoff work.

The Pentagon informed Congress that it planned to put mostof its civilian defense employees on unpaid leave for up to 22days if lawmakers didn't act on time to prevent the automaticcuts.

Congress and President Barack Obama have so far failed toreach a budget deal that would avert the sequester -across-the-board federal spending cuts negotiated in adeficit-reduction battle in 2011.

The sequester is due to start later on Friday.

A handful of unions for federal workers have been active inrecent days, negotiating with agencies to give their employeesflexibility with the furloughs.

They want employees to have the right to select which daysthey take unpaid leave, a system in which volunteers can offerto shoulder more of the burden and the ability to seek outsideemployment, among other concessions.

The National Federation of Federal Employees, NationalTreasury Employee Union and American Federation of GovernmentEmployees say the furloughs will hurt workers' ability to paytheir bills, especially if taken over consecutive days.

The American Federation of Government Employees, whichrepresents about 600,000 workers, said it's talking with severalgovernment agencies but hasn't reached any agreements yet.

"Our members are pretty angry," said David Borer, AFGE'sgeneral counsel. "Furloughs are going to cost them somethinglike 20 percent of their pay over the next several months."

Members of the treasury employees union spent several daysthis week in Washington pleading with lawmakers to prevent whatthey said would cause them a lot of distress.

Philip Yamalis, an Internal Revenue Service tax specialistfrom Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was among those who lobbiedCongress. He has worked for the government for 22 years and sayshe feels anxious about the future.

"When they say a sequester cuts across the board, they don'trealize the fear they place in an ordinary middle-class citizentrying to do his job," he said.

While unions still hope that lawmakers will reach a budgetdeal that will undo the sequester after the fact, they havegeared up to bargain to mitigate the effects.

NTEU spokeswoman Dina Long said the union plans to work withthe IRS to find other budget savings that could help avoidfurloughs.

In an internal IRS memo acquired by Reuters, the agencyinformed employees that they would have to take five to sevenunpaid days off starting in the summer after the busy taxseason. Workers, the agency said, will take no more than one dayoff per pay period.

Long said the NTEU wants the IRS to give employees theoption of swapping furlough days as well as allow employees theright to voluntarily take on more unpaid days to relieve workmates who might be in more dire financial situations. It alsowants the tax agency to allow furloughed employees to takeoutside employment.

The National Federation of Federal Employees has also sentits members bargaining guidelines.

"We're trying to make the best out of a bad situation," saidPhillip Snodgrass, assistant general counsel at NEFF. "Employeesare probably frustrated and understandably so. Congress did thisand they (employees) are the ones getting shafted."

The union wants federal employers to provide more than therequired 30 days advance notice to furloughed employees. Itwants agencies to first solicit volunteers if not all employeesare required to take unpaid days off. The union also wantsemployers to allow workers to request specific furlough dayswhen possible.

The Office of Management and Budget this week instructedagency heads to cooperate with the unions.

The best-case scenario, the union leaders said, would be ifCongress reach a budget deal in coming weeks before furloughsstart.

"We can't negotiate that they don't do a furlough, but thatif they are going to do a furlough, we can negotiate how it willbe handled," AFGE's Borer said. "If the agency refuses tonegotiate with us, that would be an unfair labor practice and wecould file charges against them."

A federal union has the ability to file a complaint throughthe Federal Labor Relations Authority, which would theninvestigate the complaint.